Scoring Storage Startups

In a year when U.S. VC funding is down overall, it looks as if there's no slowing the momentum of IT storage and related technologies.

Today, the Dow Jones VentureOne unit of Dow Jones Financial Information Services reported that U.S. venture fundraising is down 62 percent from the second quarter of last year. VC investment of $3.2 billion in funds for startups was the lowest since 2004's second-quarter posting of $2.1 billion, the firm states.

But startups in storage and related technologies appear to be grabbing dough at a dizzying rate: A scan of funding stories on this site shows that VCs invested $468.4 million so far this year in all kinds of small firms. (See Storage Forecast: Clear, Sunny.)

Among the year's biggest takes so far is the $27 million scored today by ONStor; $22 million by Sepaton; $21 million by Expand; $17 million by Mimosa; $113 million by Force10; and $18 million by Exanet. (See ONStor Secures $27M, Eyes IPO, Sepaton Scores $22M, Expand Gets $21M, Mimosa Raises $17M, Force10 Round Hits $113M , and Exanet Nets $18M.)

And the year's not over yet. For 2007, storage startup investment could top the estimated $555 million in deals we wrote up in 2006; $470 million in 2005; and about $600 million in 2004 (a record low for overall VC spending, according to VentureOne).These armchair calculations are obviously as unscientific as it gets. But they point up the ongoing strength of the storage market. Which brings us to another point: It's time to review our quarterly Top 10 Startups to Watch. Within the next couple of weeks, we'll be generating a new set of ponderable neophytes.

We'd like your input, natch. To be considered, startups must:

Of course, we're full of ideas about who's hot and who's not. But we'd love to hear yours. Send your comments and suggestions to us at [email protected].

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch